Chris’s Comments (group member since Feb 25, 2011)

Chris’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

I nominate All Systems Red for science fiction. It was nominated for several awards and is generating a lot of buzz.

I found this very creative but macabre. These children have had adventurous experiences that make them unsuitable to live in our “normal” world. In a sense, though, the school is also suspended from our normal rules of behavior. Getting rid of a murdered students body probably makes sense in the confines of the school’s reality.

I liked the idea of a compass or scale, from Nonsense to Logic. I found our POV character intriguing, having to develop absolute masterful control over her own body and will. But although I can appreciate this world building, it was too creepy for me to say that I really liked it.

Once again, a great continuation of our story. It was too much to hope that everyone could just get along. People persist in playing with the protomolecule and humanity may be wiped out as a result. Holden tries to retire for about 2 seconds, but can’t stay uninvolved. Bobbie’s stellar leadership qualities finally get to shine, and I may finally have come to terms with Clarissa Mao.

I am devastated that this is the last book for a while. Good news, though, at least I can start watching the next installments of the TV series again this week.

Scalzi has a way of taking a standard SF trope and giving it a twist. Good guy saves endangered aliens, yes. But the good guy has a troubled past, and his motives are questionable. The corporation is predictably evil, but there are enough principled people to overcome and save the day. The fuzzies were great, each with their own personalities. Carl the dog was... well, a loyal dog that anyone could love. The touching detail of Sammy the prospector who tried to improve his reading skills. But my favorite moment comes at the end, when Holloway acknowledges that he’s not necessarily a good person, but that he was the right man. THAT was the moment that felt real to me.

This book raised a lot of interesting ethical questions. Every good magical system requires a price for magic; in this case requiring a magister to give up their humanity to acquire power. As a result, I identified far more with Andovan than with Kamala. Their relationship made me squirm a bit, yet there was a definite attraction between them.

I enjoyed the book, and intend to continue the series to learn more about the ikata and how they can be defeated. Will the magisters band together as the witches did in the past? Will such a war expose the magister's dark secret? I can't wait to find out!

This one was well placed for me; I had decided to read all the Culture novels so the timing was perfect. Honestly, I'm not a fan of military/fighting, and there is certainly a lot of that in this book (after all, what should I expect when the word Weapons is in the title?).

But this book went far beyond the fighting. It explored the basic beliefs of the Culture, and the ambiguous roles of Contact and Special Circumstances that intervened in non-Culture civilizations with a hope (but not a certainty) that they were doing the right thing. That ambiguity made the situations much more real to me.

Zakalwe's story is heartbreaking, ultimately horrendous, and unforgettable.

China Mieville is so unusual in that each book is its own complete, incredibly detailed landscape. No twelve book series for him! This one is no exception.

I’m always a fan of combined genres, particularly when murder mysteries cross into speculative fiction. I thought the idea of two overlapping cities rich ground for this police procedural.

Although the citizens of the two cities are quick to say that their situation is nothing like the divided cities of Berlin or Jerusalem, this does remind me (sadly) of a real life equivalent. A few years ago I was visiting eastern Croatia near the border with Serbia. There were signs everywhere of the recent conflict, including bullet holes throughout the town, a reminder of neighbors turning against neighbors because of a perceived difference in dress or pronunciation that made them “other”. Perhaps this work of speculative fiction isn’t that far from the truth after all.

I thought this one was good, but didn't enjoy it as much as the others. The book was terrific for exploring the motivation for the Belters, who see their way of life vanishing and cannot envision a new life for themselves "down-well". Their actions were short-sighted in that they were destroying their own resources as well as others, but it authentically spoke to their rage against an uncertain future.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as others, however, because it lacked the personal interaction. None of the characters really advanced (except perhaps Pa, but we really didn't get much of her POV). It was nice that Holden didn't stir up a controversial war, for once.

Still, although it's not my favorite, I think the book did an excellent job of setting up the tactical situation for the next book.

Well, I’ve always been a fan of jumping spiders, at least when they’re smaller than my fingernail. I’m also a fan of first contact novels that describe a truly alien civilization with its own unique POV. Here’s a novel with both!

I found the spider’s story compelling. I appreciate that the spider civilization had problems of its own to be resolved. I agree that the human story is less interesting, but it was necessary to set up the final conflict and resolution.

Some favorite moments:
- Dr Avrana Kern coming to terms with a spider civilization
- Using domesticated ant colonies as computers
- The display of the visual image that had to be reconstructed in a spiral
- The conclusion!

I read this last year after we read Curse of Chalion. At first I was disappointed that our POV changed, but I got to really enjoy Issa. I like her sense of humor.

I have also read the Penric novellas. They're ok but, perhaps because they are shorter, I find them less well developed.

I accidentally bought this as an audio book, and it's taken me awhile to get through it. I was glad I got it in measured doses, it was indeed pretty bleak. Yes, bleak, that's the perfect word, and that's usually why I don't read dystopian fiction. The storytelling style in Midwife was very engaging, though, and I liked the midwife as a narrator. It raised a number of interesting questions, both practical (how do you find food and supplies) and also societal (how does society rebuild -- or does it??). A good book.

For a more uplifting post-apocalyptic novel, try Station Eleven

Loved this one! I agree with the comments above, getting a more in depth view of our four main characters was a welcome change. Learning more of their backstories just made me like each one more. Each is flawed, yet turned those circumstances into an impetus to grow beyond. I thought the plot was clever, too, having them each approach the problem of the missing ships in different ways.

My favorite exchange:
Fred: What did you do?
Holden: There was a button.
Fred: Jesus Christ. That really is how you go through life, isn't it?

And Bobby is back!

I like each book in the series more than the last. I could scarcely put this most recent book down. The crew of the Roci are becoming old friends, and more and more like parts of a whole.

I’m not sure that Murtry was a believable villain. He was just too singlemindedly bent on destruction in the name of the corporation. I found the engineers-turned-soldiers kind of endearing, though.

The book as a whole does raise the interesting question of who really “owns” a discovered new world. And we’re set up nicely for a major emigration from Mars (or even the outer planets) as being just too hard to conquer. But what if the civilization killers show up? Who would be in a position to save humanity then?

I hadn’t thought of “burn” in the context of going somewhere, that’s interesting. I had thought of it more as destruction, since the original city was destroyed by the volcanic storm. Maybe both?

I nominate for Fantasy, and for Science Fiction. It seems like there's a lot of energy around the Pern discussion, so this might get us started (and not preclude a series read later). And Neal Stephenson is always interesting.

I love Pern. What's not to love about dragons and fire lizards? And the Harper Hall appeals to the musician and archivist in me. This series is exactly why I think the term "speculative fiction" is more appropriate (even if it is kind of clunky).

Another book similarly on the edge between SciF and Fantasy is Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre.

There seems to be a lot of energy here, perhaps we should nominate a Pern book in the next round.

I like the Miles Vorkosigan novels, but it’s nice to go back and see how his parents met. Cordelia is a strong, smart, principled woman, and I enjoy her as a protagonist.

One thing that I like about speculative fiction is that it can cross into so many traditional genres. This is a science fiction story with planets and space ships, but also adventure and romance and intrigue. There’s no hard science at stake and no great truths revealed. But sometimes all I need from a story is for it to be an entertaining story. And this one delivers!

I heard Neil Gaiman speak this summer. He is writing the screenplay for the upcoming miniseries, and he shared some deleted scenes that were just wonderful. His dry humor and Terry Pratchett’s keen ear for social commentary are a wonderful match.

I scarcely know where to start. The Satanic nuns. The four Horsemen on their motorcycles (I particularly like Famine, who is starving people through small, elegant portions). Dog! The Them, including Adam the Antichrist. It’s a good thing Crowley and Aziraphale are trying to put things right. And giving us something to titter about in the process.

The show will appear in 2018 on Amazon Prime first, then later on BBC. Here’s a brief overview.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz...

I thought this took place on a very interesting world. I was intrigued by the idea of a narrow habitable zone which is only maintained by the reflection of the moon. I'd like to learn more about the Ancesters, too, and why they chose this world to establish a colony.

I thought Nona was an interesting character. But for me the book seemed to drag on through just too many fight scenes without telling me much about the society. Why do the Sisters train so hard and learn about poisons? If they're just assassins, how are they different from the Noi Guin, and who do they work for? What's the deal with the evil spirits in the almost dead guy? I think I would have liked this more if the story was tighter.